Earth Day 2016: a Nature-and-child relationship

Readers of this blog know we focus on exploration of a child’s human spirit. Nature plays a crucial role in spiritual development and health. After all– to state the obvious– it’s our natural habitat. We are wired for it. Children need to spend time in nature– even city kids need the parks.

From nature, children…

gain a certain perspective unattainable from any other source

acquire neuroconnections key to brain function

Nature advances a web of life perspective

One of Alexander von Humboldt’s most important discoveries was that nature is a web of life. He found Earth to be one great living organism and a place where everything is connected. Humboldt wrote, “no single fact can be considered in isolation.”

He was the first to recognize the forest as an ecosystem. As such, he predicted devastating consequences of despoiling the face of the earth. However, though he was captivated by empirical data, he never lost his sense of wonder. He wrote that, “nature must be experienced through feeling.”

How do the children in your life “feel” nature’s web of life?

Relationally – through a connection with their pet(s), tending vegetables in a garden, nurturing a potted plant

Powerfully – awe and wonder of nature as far bigger than all of us, through astronomy, IMAX nature movies

Creatively – inspiration for poetry, photography

Experientially – sitting at the side of a lake listening to the water lap against the shore

Connections with nature build neuroconnections in the child’s brain.

From Dr. Becky Bailey’s work on Conscious Discipline, I learned more about how a child’s connections on the outside build neuroconnections on the inside. When relating to people, these outside connections come from eye contact, touch and presence.

When relating to nature, one woman describes an insight gained from sitting in a forest:

Your colleagues or supervisor at work won’t allow you to pursue your ideas. Then, you notice that a tree looks like it was initially growing in one direction, but something got in the way and now it’s growing—and thriving—in another. It’s as if the tree is saying, “Grow where you can! Send your energy to where you will be nurtured!”

A sense of peace envelops you as you lay down a fruitless struggle. Then a new creative space emerges as a more helpful question dawns on you: “Where can I grow?” (Kris Abrams)

Many great writers, thinkers, scientists, and poets have reflected extensively on nature:

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. (Albert Einstein)

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1 Comment

Laura Luna
on April 22, 2016 at 12:06 pm

So beautiful Janet and such an important message to all of us young ang not so young. There is a sense of peace and connection we find in nature we don’t find anywhere else. It is so important to connect with nature when ever possible. Thank you for reminding me just how benifical it is in every aspect of our lives.?????